The idea of a chess related event at Imperial College London isn’t a newone: the last major open tournament held at ICL was the 1st ChessmasterBritish Blitz Championships back in 1999, which Hackney famously dom-inated en-route to a well deserved victory. Going back even further,Imperial is quite a famous venue for weekend congresses, as often as threetimes a year, spanning from the 70s to the 90s. The current students andindeed the organiser (!!) had no idea of this when the thought of hostinga chess event crossed our minds, and once we had booked the beautifulactivity rooms on the first floor of the Union, the pressure was on to liveup to our reputation ...

(continued on Page 4)

The London Team Rapidplay

There have been some remarkableindividual and team performances byEnglish players in recent weeks and,although I don't want to influence anyvotes or polls, I have my favourites, asI'm sure you do. Domestic chess isflourishing and I think we're seeing afew names coming to the fore who willno doubt represent the country in the near future.However, I've been asked by several people whetherour international abilities have stalled recently, asresults and the pool of available players appears tohave stagnated. Although it's certainly true that ourperformances at recent Olympiads have been disap-pointing, England currently has 17(!) players rated over2500 with 5 over 2600 and a further one, GawainJones, only 4 points off this level. I am endeavouringto persuade Matthew Sadler to return to some limitedinternational duties, as I think it's important not onlyfor our prestige but also as an opportunity to attractsponsorship and to have a top-performing team bring-ing home medals. Imagine what a team of Adams,Short, McShane, Sadler and Howell could achieve - Iowe it to English chess to at least try and provide thestrongest possible team we can find and there won't bemany stronger on the world stage!There are many prominent events happening on thedomestic calendar, including the BritishChampionships, Nigel Short tour and BritishRapidplay Championships, but we must also be proudof the huge number of weekend tournaments whichhave been the essential lifeblood of chess in this coun-try for decades. I can't express my gratitude and admi-ration enough for all those who spend the thanklesshours organising these, so that players of all abilitiesare kept off the streets.We've had a thrilling few months and I hope we can alllook forward to even more exciting times ahead.

- CJ de Mooi, President, ECF

FINANCE COUNCIL MEETING REPORTBy Andrew Farthing, Chief ExecutiveThe ECF Finance Council meeting took place onSaturday, 16 April 2011 at the Ibis Hotel, Birmingham.As the name suggests, the meeting was dominated byfinancial matters, made all the more significant thisyear by the ending of the ECF’s longstandingGovernment grant. The following is a summary ofthe decisions made.International Chess budgetMore than 90% of this budget relates to a single item– the cost of sending a team to the European TeamChampionships. Of the £18,500 allocated to this, alarge proportion relates to expenses (event fees,accommodation and travel costs). The budget didallow for payment of fees to the players, although theamount budgeted would not have allowed for thestrongest possible team. The Director ofInternational Chess had intended to seek external sup-port to make up the difference and allow the strongestteam to go; otherwise, the best team affordable withinthe budget would have been sent.Council voted to make the full European TeamChampionships budget conditional upon additionalfinancial support being found which would enable thestrongest available team to be sent. If the additionalfunding could not be found, the ECF’s spendingshould be restricted to the amount required to coverexpenses only. In this case, a “development” teamwould be sent, which would not require players’ fees.2011-12 Funding from Game Fee and MembershipThe Board’s proposal to Council was to leave GameFee and Membership subscriptions unchanged for thecoming year, with substantial increases the followingyear in accordance with the Funding Paper. The budg-et deficit in 2011-12 would have been funded by atransfer of £15,000 from the Permanent InvestmentFund (PIF). Council’s preference was to fund part ofthe deficit from increased player/member contribu-tions as follows:• Game Fee is to rise from 54p to 58p for StandardPlay League and Congress results (with proportionateincreases in the other event categories);• Basic and Basic Junior memberships will increaseby £1 to £13 and £8.50 respectively;

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From the desk of the President

CONTENTSLondon Rapidplay - FC, 4Presidential - 2ECF News - 2 Junior - 6Grand Prix - 11International - 12

CONTENTSResults - 124NCL - 15ChEx Bookshelf - 19Book Reviews - 23Batsford - 24Calendar - 25

ECF News

• All other Direct membership subscriptions (Full,Standard, Junior, etc.) will increase by £2;• The membership fee for organisations (leagues,etc.) will increase from £54 to £58.The effect of these changes will be to reduce the budg-et deficit for 2011-12. As a result, Council voted tolimit the amount to be requested from the PIF to “upto £10,000?.Future FundingAs expected, there was a lengthy discussion of theoptions set out in my paper on the future funding ofthe ECF. This is a subject on which many people holdstrong views, and as a result the debate was lively andcommitted, without becoming heated. The resultingcard vote was as follows:• Option 1 (Membership scheme) – 91 votes• Option 2 (Membership/Game Fee combination) –71 votes• Neither of the above – 7 votesFollowing this vote, one of my principal tasks over thecoming weeks and months will be to draw up detailedimplementation proposals for Option 1, along with thenecessary amendments to the ECF’s Articles. The lat-ter will need to be voted on at the AGM in October,with a 75% majority required in order to be passed.Clearly, in view of the closeness of the vote onSaturday, a 75% majority cannot be assumed, and partof my brief is clearly to design the detailed proposals(including contingency plans) in such a way as toaddress as many of the concerns and objections ofthose who preferred Option 2 as possible. The debateat Council was very helpful in setting out a number ofthese.It would be fair to describe the decision on Saturday asthe start of a journey rather than its end. There is stilla lot to do!Charitable StatusDuring the debate on future funding, I briefed Councilon proposals to pursue the establishment of a charita-ble body to undertake the bulk of the ECF’s currentactivities. Not everything that the ECF does fits with-in the definition of “charitable aims” (basically, any-thing to do with professional chess is out), so a non-charitable organisation would also be required.Nevertheless, if a charity can be established for mostof the ECF’s work, this should open the possibility of

membership subscriptions and other donations beingeligible for Gift Aid. The effect of this would be toreduce the amount that members would have to pay inorder to achieve the same total level of funding for thecharity. (In addition, if the ECF were to be split intotwo separate organisations, there might be tax advan-tages if, say, the resulting non-charitable organisationfell below the VAT threshold.)Again, there is plenty of work to do on this beforewe’ll know what is possible and whether the CharityCommission will accept the new charitable organisa-tion (which the ECF Council will need to approve, ofcourse), but I am both optimistic and enthusiasticabout this potential change.Multiple directorships held by one individualLawrence Cooper’s proposal to allow a single individ-ual to stand for and hold two directorships on the ECFBoard (currently, the maximum is one) was over-whelmingly defeated.Amendments to rules for the CountyChampionship drawA couple of minor amendments were passed allowinga little more flexibility in the draw for this event.Currently, it has to be done by the end of January,which can cause practical problems if the weather isuncooperative and may require a journey specificallyfor this purpose. Giving room for the draw to happenas late as February may mean a cost saving, becausethose concerned may be meeting anyway at otherevents during that period.

For the first time in my experience, the meeting wascompleted within four hours(!), and I should like torecord my thanks to our Non-Executive Chairman,Mike Gunn, for his expert stewardship in achievingthis without stifling debate.I should also like to express my appreciation to every-one who provided feedback on my original fundingproposals, whether in person, by e-mail or on theEnglish Chess Forum. Inevitably, not everyone willagree with the majority view as expressed by Council,but I do assure everyone who took the time and trou-ble to express their views that I have taken note ofwhat was said and it will not simply be ignored. Whilsta complete consensus may be an impossible aim, it isin everyone’s interest for the ECF to deliver somethingwhich satisfies as many people as possible, and this willmost definitely be my priority in the coming weeks.

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Setting up on the Friday night was an interesting affair,particularly with the Union (despite being equippedwith an awesome dining hall) seemingly only havingten tables in the entire building. The meeting rooms inthe east wing basement were duly plundered, a processtaking approximately four hours and ending in severalhearty drinks on Friday evening. The end result,though, was spectacular: the well-lit event hall was setup and players would find themselves competingagainst each other in the shadow of the Royal AlbertHall the next day.Saturday morning proved both productive and hectic,with everything being set up but chaos when it came toputting individuals into new teams. When the dust set-tled, the event started only twenty minutes late, withnineteen teams taking part. The fact that there was anodd number of teams was actually a blessing in dis-guise: teams with players departing during the day wereable to ‘steal’ players to fill in during rounds – thismeant no boards were defaulted, and even playersreceiving a bye could participate in a rated game!Among the event’s guests included the esteemedkingscrusher (Tryfon Gavriel), famous for his chessvideos and thousands of followers on YouTube. At a“measly” ECF rapidplay grading of 208 (for thoseunfamiliar with chess gradings, this is comfortablyMaster strength), he was playing as the lowest ratedplayer in the daunting Team Barford, arriving as theteam to beat with an average grade of 211!Extra tables and analysis boards were available near theentrance of the room, which players used in the gapsbetween rounds but almost not at all during lunchtime,with most of the hall taking advantage of the longerbreak to get a proper meal in, in the many nearbyrestaurants and cafes.The day was regularly interrupted with muffledscreams and shouts of joy from the downstairs studentbar, where a large number of cricket fans (mainly SriLankan) were congregating to watch the Cricket WorldCup Final. After lunch (during India’s match winninginnings: say that three times fast!) the attitude wassomewhat more subdued and the chess was a tad qui-eter. For the record, this event organiser attempted tohave the World Cup Final moved to another date toaccommodate the chess, but they rather rudely nevergot back to my e-mail…

Tryfon Gavriel and Alan Luo (the day’s honouraryFrench delegate) analysing after Barford’s close callagainst Cereal Imperial in Round 2Rounds one and two started slightly late but with anawesome turnaround thanks to our guest arbiter AlexHolowczak, by the start of the third round afterlunchtime (which was a generous hour, not commonfor a chess rapidplay event!) the day was looking like itcould be back on schedule by the end of the day.

Crowding around the arbiter to see the next round’s pairings

Barford were sole leaders after second and third seedsAthenaeum A and Kings Head I drew their match inRound 3, but the afternoon got especially tense whenTeam Barford were spectacularly beaten byAthenaeum A in Round 4! Paul Thorainsson manageda victory against Venkat Tiruchirapalli and CharlesMcAleenan held Andrew Stone to a well deserveddraw on bottom board despite being 46 points his jun-ior, for the match to be decided 2.5-1.5 in Athenaeum’sfavour. This resulted in Kings Head and Athenaeumhaving a joint-lead for the next round, with Barford asingle point behind and ready to pounce.

The West London Knights face off against Athenaeum B

The final round saw Barford in prime position topounce, playing Kings Head I and pulling off a victo-ry. However, Athenaeum A won their match as wellwhich clinched first place outright, so Barford had to

4

The London Team Rapidplay (cont)

settle for second place after leapfrogging Kings HeadI, who put in a great performance to finish 3rd overall.

Outgoing Imperial College Chess Club president Jamie “8 pints”Funnell played as a filler for Hammersmith in the last round tospectacular over-the-board effect. Jamie is also famous for win-ning congresses all over the country that start with the letter B…

Other notable mentions that won prizes include CerealImperial which won the best-academic-institutionprize, as well as a storming tournament from juniorsfrom Wilson’s School who deservedly pick up the best-average-U150 prize as well as keeping all the universityteams on their toes! Finally, the best game prize (whichwas offered on-the-day) as judged by English IMThomas Rendle went to the Round 3 encounterbetween Chris Tandy of the Mush-Vrooms whoplayed against Tom Slater of the SouthamptonCheetahs.

Event organiser John Sargent (fresh from a caffeine overdose)and arbiter Alex Holowczak (fresh from a competitive snooker

match) oversaw proceedings on the day.

After packing up, the day ended with a lot of theImperial crew celebrating at the event organiser’s resi-dence, with special guests Postman Patzer (KishanPattni) and DJ Hippo (Justin Hadi) keeping the party

going into the early hours.The event was an overwhelming success and thanksmust be given to all parties involved in setting upbefore and after as well as all the team captains andplayers who made the day a fantastic one over-the-board as well.Special thanks must be given to Adam Raoof and SeanHewitt, who helped tremendously with the organisa-tion of the event beforehand, as well as John andChristine Constable who generously offered to lend ustop-quality equipment for the day’s proceedings. Welook forward to seeing you at Imperial College’s eventsin the future, which will hopefully be soon and fre-quent!

by John Sargent, London Team Rapidplay Co-ordinator

http://union.ic.ac.uk/rcc/chess/2011/04/the-london-team-rapidplay-report/

5

British ChessChampionships 2011The 98th Championships of the British IslesOrganised by the English Chess Federation

Sunday 24 July to Saturday 6 August,Ponds Forge, Sheffield, S1 2BP

An English Chess Federation Grand Prix Event

Website -http://www.britishchess2011.com/index.htm

Schedule - http://www.britishchess2011.com/schedule_2011.htm

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Frydek Mistek 2011 – from Peter PurlandTuesday 19th AprilWith a very late Easter we were not able to depart onour usual Monday but did manage to get together aparty of 14 boys for a truncated trip to what hasbecome an annual event. There has been a slightchange in format which we found out late on (wenever enter in the conventional manner – to be fairthere have been no changes for at least 15 years) butthis made no difference to our team. There were theusual two parties, William Claridge-Hansen, WilliamFoo, Shyamal Patel, Patrick Smith, Adam A Taylor,Adam C Taylor, Billy Twigge-Molecey and OllieWillson accompanied by Victor from Heathrow andTom Clements, Matthew Fergusson, Mark Kenyon,Harry Li, James Walsh and Matthew Walsh with PeterPurland travelling from Liverpool via Amsterdam.Despite efforts to arrest the leader for child kidnap-ping at Schipol and a delayed bag at Prague we metsafely but late and got the slow train to Ostrava chang-ing at Prerov. The branch train was far later then theone we had aimed for so we had to get Martin andVashek to come down and were then transferred tothe Empire for one night. It is a very nice hotel but alittle more expensive than the Centrum and much fur-ther from the station. We settled in with a buffet sup-per and an early night whilst Victor, Vashek and Icaught up over a drink. I then got the internet (even-tually) and was in bed just after 2300.Wednesday 20th AprilWe had a slight lie in today as we did not have to haveour cases downstairs before 0830. We then breakfast-ed and went out for our social day at 0930. First stopwas the Anselm Mine and we had an English speakingguide this year. We went in the pithead baths which israther spooky then down in to the underground work-ings and had the different methods explained to us.This included both wooden and metal props and handand machine excavation. We went to the Mines RescueHeadquarters and saw an exhibition on Mines Rescueas well as having a go at the training area. Our finalvisit was to see where the coal measures reached thesurface which is why this area was the first place whereNeolithic man discovered the burning qualities ofcoal. We had dinner in the miners’ canteen and thendrove to the shopping mall where we had an hour toourselves. We then moved on to the baths at Frydlandna Ostrava and had two hours in pool, hot tub and

sauna. A great time was had by all although our U12sneed to grow a bit before trying to duck the chairman!We then returned to the Centrum where we settled inand ate whilst I paid the entry fees and accommoda-tion and also booked our train back to Prague. Afterdinner we had free time to relax and prepare.Thursday 21st AprilWe were down to breakfast at 0745 and at the NationalHouse by 0840 ready for the opening ceremony. Thiswas not too long although inevitably things took sometime to get started. The U15s and U12s had three onehour rounds today so Saturday afternoon can be usedfor other chess related events. The first round was thebest we have ever had with 12 wins and two draws.Inevitably we could not keep this up but the day wasstill one of great achievement. In the Fide Rated Tomis on 2\2, in the U15s Patrick is on 3\3 and in theU12s Mark is our leading player on 2.5. Owing to thelate start we only had time for the supermarket atlunch time and then it was in to two afternoon rounds.At the end we returned to the hotel for dinner and thecustomary meeting after which we had the usual restand recuperation (usually over a chess board) untilbedtime.Friday 22nd AprilAfter the usual buffet breakfast we went to theNational House and settled down to the chess. I wason my own for quite a time until Will CH came outwith a brilliantly constructed win. As the morningadvanced we got a mix of results with most of thegames being analysed and by the end of the round theU15s had 4\8 and the U12s 1.5\4. This meant wewere exactly on target. At lunch time there was a soc-cer competition. I could not quite follow exactly whatwas happening but our 4 plus a Czech guest defeatedanother Czech team 5-1 with goals from Will (3) andBilly and Mark one each. Meanwhile the older boysplayed a friendly game on the adjacent pitch. Aftercooling down we started the afternoon round and thistime it was Billy who came out first, beaming. Will CHfollowed with his second win of the day and heproved to be our only 100% scorer today. Theanalysing session did lead to a few heartaches whenwins and draws were shown but it is so easy to seethings when you are not under pressure. By the end ofplay Will was our leading U12 with 3.5 (the others allhaving 2.5) whilst in the U15s Patrick and Adam A areon four followed by William and Adam C on 3.5. Ourtwo “senior” players are on 2. We returned to the hotelfor dinner and then Victor organized a pairs blitz

Junior Chess

(which is going on as I write and sounds enjoyable!)There were three joint winners, Adam A and Harry,Adam C and William and Shyamal and Tom.Saturday 23rd AprilHaving eventually made it to breakfast in the one oper-ating lift (the other is now repaired) we had our usualgood repast and headed in. The weather remains verygood (although the Belorussians tell me rain is forecastfor tomorrow) and the walk to the venue gives us timeto chat and take in fresh air. The morning roundproved very successful with the FIDE pair scoring 1.5,the U15s 4\8 (have we heard that before) and the U12sgetting an excellent 4\4. The leading players in theU15s are William on 4.5 followed by Patrick and thetwo Adams on 4. At U12 level the situation remainsunchanged with Will a point ahead of the others but allnow top 50%. The U12s had barely finished theirchess when they were told the soccer final was aboutto be held. Ollie was heading for a 10.2 so I could notleave him but Tom had finished and took the manager-ship. Our Czech friend played again and when I arrivedat half time we were 5-0 up. The final score was, Ithink, 10-1 with 5 goals from Mark, three from Billyand two from Will (although I know there was an owngoal!). After lunch the U15s had a simultaneous displayagainst IMs Oleg Kalikov (Rus) and Sergei Berezjuk(Cze) and GM Viktor Komliakov of Moldova.Matthew got a draw with Sergei whilst Adam C beatViktor. However what was impressive was that Ollieplayed on, alone, against Viktor for a full hour after theofficial finish time. As GMs normally cannot be both-ered going beyond their allotted time this was a greathonour. Unfortunately Ollie did not understand a drawoffer but still put up an excellent fight in front of alarge crowd. Meanwhile Victor and I had had a meet-ing with certain officials and now have already threetrips planned for 2012. Frydek at Easter, U12 trip toPrague in May and Poland (Ustron) in August. We areexpecting to do Poland (Trzebinia) in February andcould also take a trip to Gibraltar in the summer. Thesecond simultaneous was given by two leading Czechplayers GM David Navara and WGM KaterinaNemcova. The U12s played in this but Adam C wasoffered a place as there had been a drop out and beatKaterina! Wins against a GM and a WGM in one daycannot be bad! The older players then had a friendlymatch against Belarus (who had a much older team)and we were beaten comfortably but did score twogoals. The evening entertainment was Millionaire. Asusual this was an entertaining evening and yet again theolder boys fell at the last hurdle leaving Ollie andPatrick as winners.

Sunday 24th AprilThis was a double round day and vital for ourprospects. The usual morning arrangements occurredand we were all ready for start of play at 0900. As isalways the case we had some pieces gifted to us (we areless than generous in return), some games went to thewire (especially the afternoon game between the twoAdams); there were some excellent end games andsome minor tactical errors that lost us points.However, when the dust had settled we had scored9.5\14 in round seven and 8\14 in round eight. Ourtwo FIDE Rated tournament players are guaranteed atleast 50% whilst in the U12s William has 6.5 and goodchances of being in the prize list whilst the two Adams(who fought to a standstill in the afternoon) are on 5.5and could be in the prize list with a win. In the U12sWill and Billy are both on 5.5 and should get in theprizes if either win whilst the squad are second in theteam competition. On the social side all 14 joined in afun (but not skilful) game of soccer at lunch timewhilst the evening was given over to final preparationfor the last round.Monday 25th AprilThe final round started at 0800 which meant an 0700breakfast (better than an 0600 departure tomorrow).We were there in plenty of time and before the roundreceived our trophy for the soccer tournament alongwith a pen each. Unfortunately I did not get a photo ofthat ceremony. Our first game finished was Williamwho accepted a draw in an ending that certainly wasnot won but in so doing gained second place. Adam Cgot a draw and we were all pleasantly surprised to hearthat this had secured him sixth place. The last game inthe whole junior tournament was Will’s and he was cer-tainly losing going in to the ending but in front of agood crowd he held his nerve and converted the end-ing to a win and took his place on the platform in fifthplace. The team finished third and had our almost cus-tomary cake-eating ceremony after the prize giving.James Walsh was also lucky in the draw and received asmall prize. As usual it has been a very strong tourna-ment splendidly organised and the squad has acquitteditself really well. We then returned to our hotel,dumped our chess stuff and got changed before walk-ing back to Mistek town square where we had a towntrail. This was won by Adam and Harry with a decentscore of 12\19. We then headed for the bowling wherewe met the Holusa family and had a good two hoursenjoyment accompanied by drinks and chips. Our twobest bowlers were – U12 Mark and O12 Shyamal.Then it was back to the hotel, a final meal, final meet-

7

ing and packing.Tuesday 26th AprilWe were up at 0530 (0430 BST) and got a packedbreakfast before walking to the station in the only rainwe had experienced when outside. The branch trainwas busy but we got seats and the pendolino hadbooked seats. We even got all but one case on the lug-gage racks! This arrived five minutes early in Pragueafter which we got the usual two metros and onebendy bus to Terminal 2 where we said our goodbyes.The London lot had an extra two hours to wait but atleast they had a direct flight. The Liverpool group gottheir two flights with no problem and both groupsarrived safely at their respective airports after an enjoy-able and rewarding trip.

SCCU U18/U14 County ChampionshipsA report by organiser Neill Cooper (for full results seethe ECF website)For the fifth year running the SCCU U18/U14 CountyChampionships County Championships were held atWilson’s School, Wallington on Sunday 3rd April 2011.For the first time over 100 players took part, 40 in the

U18, 30 in the U18 minor and 32 in the newly resur-rected U14 tournament. All events were 2 roundJamboree with the time limit of all moves in 60 min-utes with an increment of 5 seconds per move.As in previous years the U18 open was an 8 boardevent with the teams having an even spread of ability– Kent, Surrey and Sussex all had average grades in therange 170 to 159. After the first round the event wasvery close with Surrey just ahead on 5½/8 with Sussexand Kent close behind on 5. The second round wassimilarly close with the outcome depending on the lastgame in play between Rhys Cumming (Sussex) andAdam Taylor (Surrey). Adam was a piece up but wasdown to less than 20 seconds on the clock. At thisstage Kent and Surrey both had 11 points and Sussex10 points. If Sussex the final game won then the tiebreak (board count) would favour existing champions,Kent. However, with the benefit of the 5 second incre-ment Adam safely saw his material advantage convert-ed into a win and so Surrey regained the title they wonin 2009, scoring 12/16. Kent were second with 11 andSussex third with 10.The U14 tournament was a much more one sidedaffair. The Kent team, clearly stronger on paper, builtup a good lead after the first round, with 6½/8 aheadof Berks with 5/8. In the second round they swept allbefore them scoring a clean 8/8 for an impressive totalof 14½/16. Berkshire came second with 9.Surrey dominated the U18 minor tournament whichwas won by a team of six from Sutton GrammarSchool who scored 9½ out of 12, only droppingpoints to other Surrey teams. A Surrey mixed teamcame second with 8/12. Sussex came third with 6points. This is the fourth year running that Surrey havewon the U18 minor event.

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IM title for Yang-Fan ZhouCongratulations to 16-year-old Yang-Fan Zhou, whosecured his third and final International Master normat the Coulsdon Easter International with a score of7/9. He has also satisfied the necessary rating require-ment of 2400 so he should be awarded the IM title atFIDE’s 2nd quarter Presidential Board Meeting 4-7June 2011. His previous norms were gained atCoulsdon in 2008 and the Brighton e2e4 event inFebruary 2011. He finished 1st= in the tournamentwith Russian Grandmaster Alexander Cherniaev.

http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/Results/2011-04-21_International.htm

Win for KJCA U11 EPSCA teamCongratulations to the Kent U11 Team for scoring anunprecedented 51.5 out of 60 to take the NationalEPSCA title in style. This is the highest score achieved byany team in recorded history, since the competitionbegan in 1967.The triumphant team was - Rohan Shiatis (TeamCaptain), James Meredith (Dulwich College PrepSchool), Alexander Selway (Eltham Junior School), ArulGupta (Eltham Junior School), Michael Gilbert(Mersham Primary School), Girinath Haridas (DulwichCollege Junior School), Zara Hussain (The GranvilleSchool), Anantha Anilkumar (Cumnor House School),Jackson Wen (Bickley Park Prep School), Zakary Warsop(Dulwich College Prep School), Rohan Datta (FosseBank School), Peter Mant (Townsend Primary School),Francesco Bernardini (Bishop Challoner School), SachinBalaji (Eltham College Junior School), Adam Fidler(Amherst School), James Elgar (Amherst School), RyanCherian (Dulwich College Junior School), DanielCarstairs (Southborough Primary School), Hasan Rahij(Home Educated), Ammar Kisat (Amherst School),Ethan Staunton (Dulwich College Junior School),Zeeshan Kisat (Amherst School), Jesse Creasey (DulwichCollege Prep School), Kiran Shiatis (Home Educated),with a special mention to Harry Chathli and DanyalWarsop who also helped the team to reach the finals.It was a very exciting day and a pleasure seeing so manychildren representing counties from all around the coun-try, having fun playing chess. The Kent team arrived inNorthampton on time and raring to go. It was a solid andrespectable start for many of the teams, which saw WeyValley and Barnet leading the way after round 1 with ascore of 16 out of 20. Kent were nicely tucked in thirdplace just half a point behind.After having missed out on the title for the last two yearsby just half a point, this result brought out the fighting

spirit in the Kent Juniors and the team put all their train-ing and discipline into practice to secure an even bettersecond round performance achieving a score of 17.5 outof 20. At this point, Wey Valley still led the way with 33.5out of a possible 40, with Kent advancing into secondplace, although still half a point adrift on 33, closely fol-lowed by Barnet and Sussex both on 30.5 points.A truly exceptional third round performance by the Kentjuniors saw them score an awesome 18.5 out of a possi-ble 20 to take the National EPSCA U11 title.With this excellent, record result, the Kent Juniors havecemented their reputation for currently being one of themost consistent and formidable teams in the country.Final scores were as follows:1st Kent 51.52nd WeyValley 493rd Sussex 45.54th Barnet 44.55th Berkshire 36.56th Nottinghamshire 36.57th Hertfordshire 34.58th Richmond 33.59th Essex 3010th Birmingham 2911th Cheshire and NW 23.512th Northamptonshire 2313th Yorkshire 22.514th Oldham 2015th Lancashire 1816th Manchester 1717th Lincolnshire 1418th Staffordshire 11.5

The venue was excellent and everything flowed smooth-ly. Many thanks to EPSCA, the organising team inNorthampton for such a lovely day and to Chris WardGM for presenting the trophies. Also, a very big thankyou to all the children and parents who took part andhelped out.

- Krishna Shiatis and Michael Gilbert, U11 team managers

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Bolton Easter Congress 2011Held 22nd – 24th April 2011 at the Bolton UkrainianSports & Social Club. 76 players competed in the maincongress.Don Mason who is a regular Bolton Easter entrantwon the Open. Both he and Adam Ashton were on3.5/4 after their 4th round draw. Don had a fortunatewin in the 5th round when his opponent, David Hart,overlooked a checkmate, whereas Adam could onlydraw with 14yrs old Joseph McPhillips.Bolton Open Championship1st Don Mason, Warwickshire Select 4.5pts/52nd Adam Aston, 3Cs 4pts3rd Joseph McPhillips*, Bolton 3.5ptsUnder 185 Grading Prize:David Hart, Southampton Univ. 3pts(* awarded the British Championship Qualifying place)16 competitors - £450 prize fundBolton Major (under 170)1st Clive Davies, Rose Forgrove 5pts/52nd Martin Burns, Stockport 4.5pts3rd Mick Connor, Great Lever 4ptsUnder 155 Grading Prizes:George Glover (Carlisle) & John Schofield (Crusaders) 3.5pts27 competitors - £370 prize fundBolton Knights (under 135)1st Lawrence Harold, Eccles 4.5pts/52nd= John Sutcliffe, Ronnie Whiteside, James Rothwell,Colin White, Ian Lamb, Andy Ross, Mark Rivlin 3.5ptsUnder 120 grading (& 2nd=) Gordon Glover 3.5ptsUnder 100 gradingJacob Boswell & Angelica Dean 2.5pts33 competitors - £420 prize fund.Busy Persons (10 minute blitz)1st Ali Jaunooby, Denton 7pts / 82nd= Mike Surtees, Bolton 6.5pts166-185 Grading (& 2nd=)Mitchell Burke, 3Cs & Rob Hearne 6.5ptsGrading prizes 146-165Damian McCarthy, Stuart Bainbridge & Robert Frith 5ptsGrading 126-145 Doug Barnett 5.5ptsGrading 106-125 Tim Hilton 4.5ptsGrading 85-105 Brian Davies 4ptsUnder 85 Grading Jacob Boswell 3pts

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48 competitors - £221 prize fund

West of England Championship & Congress(from Keverel Chess - http://www.keverelchess.com/Eighty players enjoyed the most beautiful weatherover the Easter weekend for the WECU Congressheld on the Beacon, high above Exmouth’s busy sea-front. The prizewinners were as follows:-Open Section: 1st Stephen Berry (214) Wimbledon 6/7pts. 2nd= Matthew Turner (233) Glastonbury &Dominic Mackle (194) Newton Abbot both 5. Gradingprizes (188-170) Patryk Krzyzanowski (177) Yeovil 4.(U-170) 1st = David Stephenson (168) Hull & DavidLittlejohns (167) Taunton both 3½.The West of England Championship was awarded joint-ly to M. Turner & D. Mackle, and the Qualifying Placefor the British Championship in August was offered toKrzyzanowski.Major Section (U-175): 1st Robert Thompson (173)Newton Abbot 6½. 2nd = Adam Clarke (164) Torquay& Brian Gosling (159) Exmouth both 5. Grading prizes(156-149) John Gorodi (150) Teignmouth 4. (U-149Martin Worrall (138) Taunton 4.Minor Section (U-140): 1st A. Wright (128) Plymouth5½. 2nd= Dinah Norman (139) & Malcolm Roberts(138) both 5. Grading prizes (130–115): Roger Waters(124) Taunton & Paul Foster (121) both 4½. (U-115)Alan Fraser (113) 4.Probably the best game of the tournament came in thefinal round when Mackle was drawn to play Turner whowas joint leader. Notes based on those by the winner.White: D. Mackle (191). Black: M. Turner (233).Queen’s Gambit – Slav Defence1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 initiating a pawn sac-rifice in order to gain space. 5.a4 is usual. 5…b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e68.axb5 Bb4 9.Bd2?! possibly dubious as Black will be forced tolose this important bishop. 9…Bxc3 10.bxc3 cxb5 11.Ng5 Whitenow launches an early attack – a critical decision. There now fol-lows a mighty struggle. 11…Qd7 12.Qh5 Nc6 13.Be2 Bb714.0–0 Kf8 If 14…h6 15.Ne4 a6 16.Nd6+ the supreme positionfor any knight. 15.f4 f5 16.exf6 Nxf6 17.Qh3 Re8 18.f5 exf519.Rxf5 Bc8 20.Bg4 Qd6 21.Rxf6+ gxf6 Not 21…Qxf6 22.Rf1Bxg4 23.Qxg4 Qxf1+ 24.Kxf1. 22.Qh6+ Kg8 23.Bh5 Rf8 24.Rf1Qe7 25.Bf3! This bishop manoeuvre is the key to paralysingBlack’s defence. Qd7 26.Be4 Nd8 27.Rf3 Ne6 28.Nxe6 Qxe629.Rg3+ Kf7 30.Bxh7 Qd6 31.Bf4 Qd5 32.Qg7+ Ke8 33.Re3+?missing a mate in 2 e.g. 33.Bg6+ Kd8 34.Bc7# but the end is nearanyway. 33…Be6 34.Bc7 Rhg8 35.Bg6+ 1–0

A fine game, enabling Mackle to catch his opponenton 5 points and thus share the Championship.

How did YOU spend thesunniest Easter for decades?

Players shown here are counting the maximum number ofevents. These Leader Boards as at May 3rd 2011Junior PrixName Club/Area Pts1 Zhou, Yang-Fan Richmond Juniors 6342 Clarke, Brandon GI Littlethorpe 6033 Fletcher, Michael JW Nottingham HS 5984 Haria, Ravi Barnet Knights 5965 Balaji, Ananthanarayanan Harrow 5936 Harvey, Marcus R Bicester 5867 Taylor, Adam C Colchester * 5668 Kuhendiran, Tharshan New Malden * 5599 Hilton, Tim Three C’s 55810 Zhou, Yang-Jian Coulsdon CF 556Graded Prix (160-179)Name Club/Area Pts1 Bryant, Richard BE Oswestry 6172 Jackson, Paul G Coulsdon CF 5743 Hayward, Alan Streatham 5354 Wells, Jonathan C North Norfolk 5105 Heaton, Paul Writtle 5036 Clegg, Robert Huddersfield 4997 Cutmore, Martin J Wood Green 4868 Bunn, Matthew Snodland 4849 Keogh, Edward Preston 48210 Patrick, David A Courier Halifax 471Graded Prix (140-159)Name Club/Area Pts1 Hartley, Dean M Amber Valley 6192 Desmedt, Richard E Netherton 6063 O’Gorman, Brendan DHSS 6014 Paul, Nathanael Coddon 5385 Dean, Robert A Pudsey 5356 Connor, Michael I Great Lever 5307 Papier, Alan Bristol & Clifton 5108 Robinson, Thomas D Redditch 5069 Clegg, Chris RA Kingston 50510 Kreuzer, Christopher Richmond & Twickenham 502Graded Prix (120-139)Name Club/Area Pts1 Foley, Phil T Upminster 6152 Horman, Paul A Morecambe 5773 Egan, William .J Scunthorpe 5614 Crouch, Timothy J Kings Head 5575 Watson, Darrell A Bourne End 5316 Stone, Mark R Petts Wood & Orpington 5277 Allen, Timothy S Battersea 5258 Gardiner, Colin J Falmouth 5169 Crockett, Stephen J Birmingham * 50610 Taylor, Jonathan Wakefield 505Graded Prix (U120)Name Club/Area Pts1 Fraser, Alan R Beckenham & Bromley 5482 Trigg, Matt D Solihull 5453 Brent, Derek Urmston 5214 Miles, Barry S South Norwood 4935 Waddington, James Bolton 4906 Mahony, Jonathan Leeds 4787 Coleman, Patrick N Lytham ex-Servicemen 4768 Billett, Stephen J Portsmouth 4749 Wadsworth, James MF Maidenhead 47410 Broderick, Paul G Shifnal & Telford 474

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Grand Prix Leader BoardsThe English Chess FederationCertificate of Merit

The Certificate of Merit (COM) is centred on anumber of online tests, which enable chess stu-dents to measure their progress and to earn certifi-cates and badges. The tests are taken entirelyonline, and payments for the credits can be madeonline or by cheque. Examinees can practice asmany times as they wish before they take the CoMtest. All questions are multiple-choice, and theresult comes through automatically - the certificateis issued by email and the button badge for the par-ticular level is sent out by the ECF Office shortlyafterwards. Please see the shop on the ECF websitewww.englishchess.org.uk for details of purchase ofthe full package or individual items.

Each credit costs £6 or £150 for 30. Oncea student has paid for a credit,

he or she can then take the test as manytimes as necessary until a pass is achieved.

Students can track each question answeredwrongly and find out the correct answer.

The answers now have an explanationincluded (where appropriate)

There is also a package available of many goodies- for details, go to www.certificateofmerit.org.ukFor further information contact the ECF Office:

01424 775222 / com@englishchess.org.ukwww.certificateofmerit.org.uk

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European Women’s Individual ChessChampionship 7-19th May Tbilisi, Georgiahttp://www.tbilisi2011.ge/index.php Jovanka Houska and Ingrid Lauterbach are bothplaying in this World Championship Qualifier.Jovanka is on 2/4 and Ingrid on 1.5.10th European Senior Team Championship 3-11May Thessaloniki, Greecehttp://gamesfestival.chessdom.com/european-sen-ior-chess England 1 finished with 4 match wins, 1 draw and 4losses so scored 9 points with Paul Byway scoring4/9, Geoffrey James 5, Ken Norman 4 and MichaelSingleton 6.England 2 finished with 3 wins, 3 draws and 3 lossesso also scored 9 match points with MichaelMacDonald-Ross scoring 3/9, Anthony Ashby 4,Stewart Reuben 4.5 and James Scholes 5.5.England 3 finished with 2 wins, 2 draws (plus 1 bye)and 4 losses so scored seven match points withPhilip Stimpson scoring 3/8, Julian Farrand 5, RayEdwards 3 and Peter Wood 2.14th Malaga Open 29 Apr - 2 May 2011http://www.ajedrezmalaga.org/html/ Gary Quillan scored 5.5/7 to finish 3rd=, ChrisDuncan scored 5 and Peter Garrett 2.5.First Saturday IM A Tournament, Budapest,Hungary 7-18 May 2011http://www.freeweb.hu/firstsaturday/1105/im.htm Mark Lyell is playing and is on 2/3.46th Capablanca Memorial, Havana 10th - 21stMay 2011http://www.capablanca.co.cu/ David Gates will play in the Open B section.I encourage players to send me details of events theyor others are playing in abroad and I will do my bestto include them in my round-up

- Lawrence Cooper, Director of International Chess

International Round-UpMidlands Junior Chess League 2011The 4th Midlands Junior Chess League took place atMalvern College in Worcestershire who once againsponsored the tournament. This year’s competitionsaw 6 clubs and 7 teams enter with Bloxwich JuniorChess Club entering 2 teams.Magdalen School College from Oxfordshire andHagley Chess Club (2010 winners) qualified for theChampionship competition with the remaining teamsfighting it out for the Jamboree plate.Magdalen took a 2-0 lead but Hagley fought back topeg the deficit to 1. Board 1 tried to win the game butas time trouble set down on the game, Magdalenclaimed victory in their first outing in the competition.Bristol League Junior Select took the jamboree platewith a thorough 4-0 victory. Magdalen won the MooreDolan Championship trophy for 1 year and £50.Hagley won £25 and Bristol won the Jamboree plateand £20.The tournament held every year on the 3rd weekendin March will be running in 2012. For more informa-tion contact Andrew Moore (info@wjca.org.uk)

The winning Oxford team - Jacob Trefethan, James Cole,Matthew Daggitt & Ben Thorne - with Ray Dolan (left)

Frome Congress results – from Gerry JeppsResults for Twenty Second Frome Congress May 6th-8th 2011, 170 players entered and winners were -OpenFirst: (4.5/5) Chris Jenks (Southbourne)Second equal: (4/5) David Buckley (Bath), AndrewSmith (Bourne End)British Championship Qualifying Place Chris Jenks(Southbourne)U175 Grading prize (3.5/5) William Foo (Reading)

Results Round-Up

Major (U170)First equal (4/5) Stephen Williams (Colchester),Russel Barlow (South Bristol), Paul Jackson(Coulsdon)U150 Grading prize (3.5/5) Paul Tew BridgendIntermediate (U140)First (4.5/5) Roger Walker (Belper)Second (4/5) John Symons (Salisbury)Paul Errington (Bournemouth)George Hollands (Sportsman Club Kent)Paul Brackner (Weymouth)Thomas Thorpe (Pete’s Potentials)Mark Stone (Petts Wood & Orpington)U125 Grading prize (3.5/5) Simon Denney (BristolUniversity)Minor (U115)First equal (4.5/5) Geoff Gammon (Downend &Fishponds), Phil Summers (Sportsman Club, Kent)Third equal (4/5) John Ariss (Teignmouth), RogerFenton (Glastonbury), Michael Harby (Gillingham &Glastonbury)U90 Grading prize Reg Cox (Southampton)Somerset TrophiesDenys Bonner (Highest placed Somerset player in theOpen): David Buckley (Bath)Leon York Memorial (Highest placed Somerset playerin the Major): Stephen Williams (Colchester)Roy Hossell (Highest placed Somerset player in theIntermediate): Patrick Wojcik (Taunton)Cyril Chapman (Highest placed Somerset player inthe Minor) Roger Fenton (Glastonbury)Jean Mackereth (Highest placed ungraded Somersetplayer in the Minor) Pawel Ploskonka (Weston-s-Mare)Cuprinol Trophy (Highest scoring West of EnglandJunior in any section): Thomas Thorpe (Pete’sPotentials)Team CompetitionSportsman Club (Kent)3rd Chess Holiday – from Peter CloudsdaleThe 3rd Holiday was held at the Rothay Manor Hotelin Ambleside from 20th to 25th March 2011 and anenjoyable time was had by all. The weather was excel-lent, which helped us all see the wonderful scenery atits best, and the hotel was first class.4 tutorial sessions outlined various chess tactics, and a7 round Swiss competition took place with 14entrants and the results were as follows -

1st Geoff Elliston, Downham Market, grade 138,6.5/72nd Rupert Guinnes, Kings Lynn, grade 140, 63rd= Bruce Carter, Kings Lynn, grade 117; DavidWilson, Billericay, grade 90, 4.55th= Gordon Pearce, Leeds, grade 129; Bob Wardle,Nottingham, ungraded, 47th Heinz Herschmann, London, grade 110, 3.58th= Sue Chadwick, Brighton, grade 107; ArthurGodwin, Chesham, grade 42; W Mark Northcutt,Leyland, grade 73; Reginald Hallwood, Carenarfon,ungraded, 312th Udo Rauch, Swadlincote, grade 65, 213th= Edwaed Vulliamy, London, ungraded andPatrick Bunting, Swadlincote, ungraded, 1Here’s hoping for another enjoyable experience in2012

- Peter Cloudsdale (Tel 01904-767177)

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County Durham Congress resultsThe event was held in the Welfare Hall, Houghton-le-Spring on April 15th-17th 2011Open – 6 entries1st = Graeme Oswald (Durham City), Malola Prasath(Hetton Lyons) – 4/5Major – 26 entries1st = David Armbruster (Peterlee), Richard Carter(Wandering Dragons), Ron Plater (Newcastle) – 4/5Under 145 Grading Prize – Ken Boxall (Peterlee) –3/5Minor – 20 entries1st David Lowcock (Hartlepool) – 4½/52nd = Colin Gilroy (Gateshead), Peter Harker(Hartlepool), Stan Johnson (South Shields), SteveLarkin (Tynedale), John Reddington (Peterlee) –3½/5Under 110 Grading Prize – Colin Forster (Peterlee) –3/5Redmonds win Clough Trophy!A team comprising all brothers finally clinched theBDCA Clough Trophy after beginning their assault in2006.

Peter, Norman, John, Nigel (seated), Graham, Tony

Peter Redmond explains, ‘Myself and Graham werethe only two playing regularly in the family at that timebut we knew with practice John, Tony and Nigel wouldeventually reach the standard required to challenge forhonours’.The team won the trophy with a fantastic win overBradford Chess Club in the final round making thethem the best of the sixteen teams that competed in

the five round handicap competition. Team managerNigel commented, ‘It was a proud moment playing andwinning with my brothers. Peter and Tony also playwith me for Bradford College in Division 3 and havewon the championship, so it’s a double celebration’.Father Norman looking on said, ‘It was very tense butyou could tell how much they wanted to win. A greatnight for the family’.York RI simultaneousOn 28th April a Simultaneous Display took place at theYork Railway Institute.Grandmaster Gawain Jones played 32 participants andbeat 21 of them.Gawain was defeated by Adam Ismail and PierreWeller from York, and he drew with James Carpenter,Erdem Akbas, Milana Smolkina, Patrick Gower, JeanLuc Weller, Neville Pearce, Tim Turner, PeterCloudsdale from York and Harry Li from Alwoodley.Gawain was a previous member of the York RI Cluband an enjoyable time was had by all. Thanks to vari-ous organisers including Richard Palliser, NevillePearce, John Knowles and Tim Turner.

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Brendan O’Gorman - Chess Images

Tom Thorpe at the 2011 Frome CongressSee Brendan’s work at -

https://picasaweb.google.com/bpogorman

The final weekend saw all three divisions playing at one venue, the Northern League merged with Division Threeand titles, promotion, relegation and European Club Cup places were up for grabs.Team P W D L GP PtsPride & Prejudice 7 7 0 0 43½ 14Wood Green Hilsmark 1 7 6 0 1 37 12White Rose 1 7 4 1 2 25 9Cheddleton 1 7 3 0 4 28 6Betsson.com 7 2 1 4 23 5Barbican 4NCL 1 7 1 2 4 26 4Guildford A&DC 1 7 2 0 5 23 4e2e4.org.uk 1 7 1 0 6 18½ 2

The destination of the title inevitably came down to the final round encounter between defending champions WoodGreen Hilsmark Kingfisher 1 and Pride and Prejudice. P&P had the advantage on game points which meant as theteams both had 12 match points that a 4-4 draw would suffice.The match was surprisingly one sided despite the teams appearing to be evenly matched. Board one saw a hardfought draw where Luke McShane had some initiative against Michael Adams but black was able to liquidate andhold. David Howell won on board 2 against Jon Ludvig Hammer after gaining a clear advantage in the early middlegame due to black’s exposed king and weakened pawn structure. Board 3 was a fifteen move draw as EmmanuelBerg fell an hour behind on the clock trying to find a plan against Sergei Tiviakov’s 3…Qd6 Centre Counter. GawainJones easily converted a positional advantage into extra material after a seemingly quiet opening where black madea couple of questionable decisions. Board 5 saw an interesting tussle between Nick Pert and Glenn Flear whereblack had an extra pawn but white had some space. As someone who prefers to grab pawns and worry about com-pensation later I was more convinced by Glenn’s position throughout the game. Mark Hebden had a nominal edgeagainst Pia Cramling but black always looked secure on board 6. Board 7 started quietly but then exploded into lifebefore the time control. John Emms, as black, was allowed a dangerous passed e pawn which Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant was unable to stop. Sophie Milliet played an enterprising gambit against Neil McDonald but he gave up mate-rial which allowed Sophie to play without risk having an extra pawn in a rook and opposite coloured bishop endingwhich Neil was able to hold. This meant that Pride and Prejudice won the match 6-2 and secured their first 4NCLDivision One title. Congratulations to the team and to Claire Summerscale, their manager. Their team has changeda lot since they first set foot in the 4NCL. Initially a team that fielded mainly women, then juniors, they have nowevolved to a team that regularly fields three of the England team and a number of other experienced English GMswith a foreign female player.The earlier rounds of the weekend had seen WGHK1 win a tough match against Barbican with Luke McShane win-ning against Jonathan Parker on top board. This, combined with wins on boards 5 and 8, helped them to a 5-3 vic-tory, despite Max Devereaux winning against Ketevan Arakhamia. Pride and Prejudice were able to overtake themon game points though as they scored heavily against White Rose and e2e4.org.uk.White Rose clinched third place with an impressive win against Cheddleton by winning the bottom two boards (winsfor Paul Townsend against Paul Wallace and Lateefah Messam-Sparks against the much higher rated WIM FionaSteil-Antoni from Luxembourg) and showing great resilience in some of the other games with Colin McNab hold-ing a knight and pawn ending against Danny Gormally in the last game to finish. This victory, coupled with theirwin against Betsson in round 8 ensured they clinched a European Club Cup place and they finished with a cred-itable 4-4 draw with Barbican. They have clearly had a great season and have managed to finish above teams withfar bigger budgets and higher rated players.Cheddleton finished their first season in the top flight in fourth place and Jonathan Hawkins secured his first GMnorm after a great result on top board which included wins against Parker, Gordon and Conquest. He has madehuge progress in the last couple of years and I won’t be surprised to see him making more norms in the near future.The team also added Elisabeth Paehtz and Richard Pert to the team for the final weekend to ensure a good finish.

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4NCL - final weekend - from Lawrence Cooper

Of the other teams e2e4.org.uk had an outstanding first season in the initial group stage and Yang-Fan Zhou gainedyet another IM norm which he can add to his collection. He should become a ratified IM at the next FIDE meet-ing in June and is likely to have a rating around 2450 in July. He is still only sixteen and is an outstanding talent whoI hope can keep improving and fulfil his potential. He is also a great role model to the other juniors and I hope hisresults will help inspire them to keep playing. I should also thank David Howell for his work with Yang-Fan andhope this will continue. I was also pleased to see Ameet Ghasi return to international chess for the first time in fiveyears and a draw with Elisabeth Paehtz and a win against Richard Bates was a very encouraging comeback. His onlyloss came against Sergei Tiviakov.Both Betsson and Barbican finished slightly lower than expected but were involved in a number of close matcheswhich could have gone either way whilst Guildford had a good final weekend to avoid last place.The top three teams qualify for the European Club Cup in 2011 although as WGHK have already turned down theirplace this means that P&P, White Rose and Cheddleton are currently the three teams able to take up places. At thetime of writing only White Rose have confirmed their intentions so it is still possible that Betsson will get a chanceto play and I am aware that e2e4 are also interested should enough teams turn down the opportunity.Team P W D L GP PtsWood Green Hilsmark 2 7 6 1 0 37 13Cambridge University 1 7 6 0 1 34½ 12The AD’s 7 4 1 2 31 9Barbican 4NCL 2 7 4 0 3 33 8Oxford 1 7 3 1 3 27 7Pandora’s Box Grantham 7 1 1 5 19 3Sambuca Sharks 7 1 0 6 23½ 2Warwickshire Select 1 7 1 0 6 19 2

The demotion pool was mostly about relegation but Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 2 beat Cambridge to top thepool despite having to play their joker as I was asked to fill a vacant board leaving Brian Smith free to look after PiaCramling’s daughter. Congratulations also to Peter Sowray who secured an IM norm.The crucial relegation battles were realistically between ADs, Barbican 2 and Oxford. Sophie Tidman continued herfine run of form for Oxford. She started the weekend on 4/6 and performing at 2293. She won on Saturday againstPandora’s Box and drew a complicated game against IM Craig Hanley leaving her assured of a norm if she playedanyone rated over 2235 or a draw against anyone lower. Sadly, she was unable to do this and lost to Jana Bellin. Herrating performance was still 2240 for the season and probably her best career result to date. I hope to see her play-ing more as she remains one of our strongest women. Sadly for Oxford their 4-4 draw in round 9 against Pandora’sBox was followed by defeats to WGHK2 and in the vital eleventh round they were overpowered 6.5-1.5 by the ADs.So, not only did they miss out on norms for Sophie and David Zakarian but they also fell into the bottom fourmeaning they will play in Division 2 next season. Barbican 2 secured their escape by winning in rounds 10 and 11and Chris Dorrington made his first IM norm whilst Kanwal Bhatia narrowly missed out on her first WIM norm.Team P W D L GP PtsJutes of Kent 7 5 0 2 33½ 10Anglian Avengers 1 7 3 4 0 29½ 10Bristol 1 7 3 1 3 29½ 7Guildford A&DC 2 7 3 1 3 26 7Poisoned Pawns 1 7 3 0 4 28½ 6Barbican Youth 7 3 0 4 26½ 6Wessex 1 7 2 2 3 26 6Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg 7 1 2 4 24½ 4

Jutes of Kent recruited GM Luis Galego from Portugal and IM Bjorn Thorfinsson and this enabled them to winall three matches to move from fifth to top the division (albeit round 9 was only 4.5-3.5 against Poisoned Pawns).Bjorn lost to Andrew Dunn and Luis was held to a draw but wins by GM Simon Williams, WFM Aly Wilson andAlexis Harakis saw them home.

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Barbican Youth were the team to slip out of the promotion places although, as Barbican 2 survived, they would nothave been able to take promotion anyway. Anglian Avengers had a great season and finished second only on gamepoints to Jutes. Their strength in depth enabled them to draw 4-4 with Bristol despite taking only 0.5 on the topfour. Their last round 4-4 draw with Wessex also led to Wessex finishing seventh whereas a 4.5-3.5 victory to Wessexwould have seen them finish fourth by half a game point! Guildford 2 therefore took fourth place ahead of Wessexwhilst Bristol secured third by winning against Barbican Youth.Both Jutes and Bristol look well equipped to establish themselves in Division 1 whilst it will be interesting to seehow Anglian Avengers fare, they have certainly been one of the success stories of this season. Guildford 2’s chancesmay largely depend on how strong their first team is.Team P W D L GP PtsSouth Wales Dragons 7 5 1 1 35 11White Rose 2 7 4 2 1 30 10AMCA Dragons 7 3 3 1 30 9Kings Head 7 3 2 2 29½ 8Cambridge University 2 7 3 1 3 26 73Cs 1 7 2 1 4 29½ 5Sambuca Black Sheep 7 1 2 4 23 4Poisoned Pawns 2 7 0 2 5 18½ 2

The demotion pool saw AMCA Dragons, Kings Head and White Rose all win in round 9 to virtually secure theirsurvival. AMCA won 5.5-2.5 against Cambridge 2 with James Holland amongst the winners on board 3, whilstWhite Rose 2 win against 3Cs, which left Cambridge and 3Cs with too much to do. Despite both winning in round10, they finished with a 4-4 draw and were both relegated, along with Sambuca Black Sheep and Poisoned Pawns 2.South Wales Dragons topped the pool on 11 match pointsTeam P W D L GP PtsBradford DCA Knights A 11 9 1 1 42 19Spirit of Atticus 11 9 1 1 40½ 19Brown Jack 11 8 1 2 44 17FCA Solutions 1 11 7 2 2 41½ 16Celtic Tigers 1 11 7 2 2 41 16e2e4.org.uk 2 11 6 4 1 38 16Wessex 2 11 7 1 3 39 15Braille Chess Assoc 11 7 0 4 39 14Iceni 11 6 2 3 38 14Oxford 2 11 5 4 2 35½ 14Anglian Avengers 2 11 6 1 4 39 13Warwickshire Select 2 11 6 1 4 38 13KJCA Kings 11 6 1 4 34 13Sussex Smart Controls 11 6 1 4 30½ 13The Rookies 11 3 6 2 36½ 12Holmes Chapel 11 5 2 4 36 12Cheddleton 2 11 6 0 5 34 12FCA Solutions 2 11 5 2 4 33 12AMCA Rhinos 11 4 3 4 33½ 11e2e4.org.uk 3 11 5 1 5 33½ 11Metropolitan 11 5 1 5 33 11Guildford A&DC 3 11 5 1 5 32½ 11British Universities CA 11 5 1 5 31 11Gloucestershire Gambits 11 5 1 5 31 11Bristol 2 11 4 2 5 31½ 10Bradford DCA Knights B 11 5 0 6 28 10The Full Ponty 11 3 3 5 32½ 9Hackney 11 2 5 4 30 93Cs 2 11 4 1 6 30 9e2e4.org.uk 4 11 4 1 6 26½ 9Oxford 3 11 2 4 5 30½ 8Halesowen 11 4 0 7 28½ 8Jorvik 8 4 0 4 25 8

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AMCA Hippos 10 3 1 6 28½ 7KJCA Knights 11 3 1 7 26½ 7Banbury Bulldogs 10 3 1 6 25 7Celtic Tigers 2 9 3 1 5 22½ 7Manchester Manticores 11 3 1 7 22 7Channel Isolani 8 2 2 4 21½ 6Guildford A&DC 4 8 2 1 5 17½ 5UCL 8 2 1 5 16½ 5Aigburth 11 2 0 9 26 4Bristol 3 11 2 0 9 20 4SCS 11 1 1 9 14 3

Division 3 saw the 8 northern teams joining up for the final weekend meaning Bradford DCA Knights and TheSpirit of Atticus carried forward points from the first four weekends to head the table.Brown Jack defeated Bradford 4-2 in round 9 whilst Atticus won 3.5-2.5 against Wessex 2 thanks to a win by JohnCarleton on top board. There were also wins for Celtic Tigers, Oxford 2, e2e4.org.uk 2 and the Braille.Round 10 saw promotion for both Bradford & Atticus as Brown Jack were unable to make their rating advantagetell against Atticus and David Robertson secured the only decisive result on board 5. Bradford won 4-2 against CelticTigers with Ben Hague defeating Ryczard Maciol on top board and their were also wins for e2e4.org.uk 2, FCASolutions and the Braille.Round 11 saw Brown Jack join the top two northern sides in Division 2 next season as they overcame WarwickshireSelect 2 thanks to wins from Mike Truran, Richard Haydon and Pablo Padilla Cabero. e2e4.org.uk 2 needed to winagainst Atticus but despite heavily outrating them on the bottom 5 and securing a draw on top board they were heldto 3-3 with James Jackson the only winner. This enabled FCA Solutions who won 4-2 against Oxford 2 to claim thefourth remaining promotion place ahead of Celtic Tigers by half a game point! e2e4 also finished on 16 points butwere 3 game points behind the Celts.On behalf of the players and officials I would like to thank the Barcelo Hotel in Hinckley for hosting the weekendand enabling us to hold all three divisions at the same venue.

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McShane vs Adams (background); Hammer vs Howell Pia Cramling vs Mark Hebden

Neil McDonald vs. Sophie Milliet Lateefah Messam-Sparks, Peter Sowray

Each issue in this column, Chief Executive Andrew Farthingintroduces a noteworthy book of interest to the average player

CHESS IS HIS LIFEOn 23 March 2011, Viktor Korchnoi celebrated his80th birthday. A legendary figure in the history ofchess, Korchnoi has crossed swords with every worldchampion from Botvinnik to Anand and continues totake delight in showing grandmasters less than a quar-ter of his age that they just may still have a thing or twoto learn from the maestro.In honour of the great man, this double-length editionof the ChEx Bookshelf looks at a selection of hispublished works.Part 1: AutobiographyMake no bones about it,Korchnoi’s Chess is myLife (Batsford, 1977;updated, expanded editionpublished by EditionOlms, 2005), is the mostabsorbing chess autobiog-raphy ever written. Thecareer it describes con-tains so many highlightsthat no summary could doit justice, but here are some headlines:• 4-time Soviet Champion (1960, 1962, 1964/5 and1970);• 9-time Candidate (1962, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1977,1980, 1983, 1988 and 1991);• Twice World Championship Challenger to Karpov(losing 5-6 after 32 absorbing games in 1978, afterfighting back from 2-5 to 5-5 over the course of justfour games; losing 2-6 after 18 games in 1981);• Won matches against Reshevsky, Tal, Geller,Mecking, Petrosian (3 times!), Polugayevsky, Hübner,Spassky among others;• First place – alone or shared – in nearly 100 tourna-ments;• In the years 1970-1978, played Karpov 65 times,achieving a score of +11 -13 = 41, notwithstandingthe enormous combined resources of Soviet chesslined up against him and in support of his opponent;• At the Tradewise Gibraltar International Open in2011, just weeks before his 80th birthday, scored 6/10

for a tournament performance rating of 2632 –including a missed brilliancy in his final round game(which he went on to lose).And that’s just the chess! Throughout his playingcareer, Korchnoi has been a magnet for controversyand admiration in equal measure: from his days as a“rebel” in the Soviet Union, through his defection in1976 (when he famously approached Tony Miles to askhow to pronounce the word “asylum”) the emotional-ly-charged matches against the cream of Soviet chess(while enduring a boycott by Eastern Bloc players ininternational tournaments) and his agreeing to play acandidates match against Kasparov in 1983 which hehad originally won by default, to the current feistyoctogenarian with the twinkle in his eye who grumpilylectures his young opponents on their chess ignorance.This article is appearing in the newsletter of theEnglish Chess Federation, so mention should be madeof some of Korchnoi’s memorable appearances in thiscountry. They serve to give a flavour of both the manand the autobiography:• 1955/56 – equal first at Hastings, including a shortsparkling draw with Taimanov, which Korchnoi freelyadmits was arranged beforehand: “[Taimanov] was ratherafraid of me and, since I had White, he persuaded me to ‘com-pose’ the game. It turned out to be quite brilliant. Later, in hisbook Chess Encounters, he went into raptures about howbrilliantly we had played – but in fact the whole game had beenworked out beforehand!”• 1971-72 – equal first at Hastings, shared with Karpov(whom Korchnoi beat – a rare decisive result betweenSoviet players at the event). Another anecdote, con-cerning the last round, is typical: “Karpov [needing a winto tie with Korchnoi] adjourned his game in a slightly better end-ing. I sensed how important it was for me to be the sole winnerof the tournament. I remembered Petrosian, and I rememberedSuetin, who helped Silvino Garcia to analyse his game againstme in the last round of the 1969 Havana tournament. But Idecided that what was most important was my reputation. Andbesides, a young player needs to be educated, even if only indi-rectly. So at the time when Karpov was analysing his position,I, on the other side of the wall, deliberately moved about in myroom, clearly letting him know that I was not interested in help-ing him.”• 1973 – European Team Championships in Bath. Amediocre performance by Korchnoi, marked by thedeath of his intended roommate, Leonid Stein, whosuffered a fatal heart attack (“the chess player’s occupation-al disease”) on the eve of their departure.

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The ChEx Bookshelf

• 1975-76 – A final appearance at Hastings and asuperficially unimpressive 4th place. The book setsthis in context: following his narrow defeat by Karpovin their 1974 Candidates Final match, Korchnoi hadmade some typically frank remarks in a publishedinterview and had been effectively banned from play-ing for nearly a year. Hastings was one of his firstevents after what must have been an anxious time. Itmarked the point at which Korchnoi’s break for free-dom was decided: “When I set off for Hastings, I took withme a number of chess books and photo-albums. All this I sentafter the tournament to Sosonko, now a Dutch master, inAmsterdam. I played badly in the tournament, and took fourthplace.”• 1980 – A shared first place with Miles and Anderssonin the Phillips & Drew Kings tournament in London.That Korchnoi came first was no surprise, but hisinconsistent play was nowhere near as convincing ashis performances of a year or two before, an indicationthat his chances for the World Championship wereperhaps now behind him.• 1983 – Korchnoi is in London to play a Candidatessemi-final match against some young kid calledKasparov. A political dispute had led initially toKasparov’s default, but Korchnoi agreed to play any-way, in return for a payment and the cessation of theSoviet boycott against him in tournaments. Korchnoiwon the first game but eventually lost 4-7. (“As I soonlearned, Karpov was very upset about me. It appeared, asKarpov and the people in his camp thought, that I had thrownthe match! [...] I don’t like to explain my failures as being dueto inexplicable, secondary factors. But after the match the follow-ing point of view was expressed to me by many people. If I hadgot it into my head that I never wanted to play a match withKarpov again, subconsciously it would indeed have been hard forme to fight against Kasparov.”)• 1984 – The Phillips & Drew in London again.Korchnoi’s result was middling – equal 7th with6½/13, but the tournament saw him competing withKarpov in the same tournament again. This was a wel-come sign that the days of boycotts were over but alsoperhaps an indication that Korchnoi was no longerconsidered a “threat”. (A quarter of a century later, ofcourse, Korchnoi is still doing his best impression of achess-playing Duracell bunny, while Karpov has beeneffectively retired for several years!)• 2009 and 2010 – The London Chess Classic is seek-ing a figure of sufficient stature to be its guest of hon-our. Who’re you going to call? You guessed it!

I have taken the liberty of quoting at length from Chessis my Life because there is no better way to convey thequality of Korchnoi’s narrative. He is utterly unafraidto reveal what was going on behind the scenes of hisgames, even when it does not necessarily show him ina favourable light. Like no other chess autobiography,one comes away from this book believing that it is anhonest account.Of course, Korchnoi is only human, and there isundoubtedly some score-settling going on, particularlyin the earlier Batsford edition, in which the woundswere still very much open and hurting. By 2005, agehad brought about a more reflective state of mind, andthe resulting tone is, if not exactly mellow, a little moreconciliatory at times. That said, I am not convincedthat this makes for a better book. The 1976 editiongrips the reader by the throat and does not let go. Ihave read it several times and it continues to fascinateme. The 2005 edition is excellent (and comes with aCD of Korchnoi’s complete games to that time – astaggering 4,280 in all), but to the first-time reader itmay not have the same visceral impact as the originalhad on me when I first encountered it.Both versions of the book open in the same way, withthe tale of an encounter with a Russian aristocrat in themain square of Palma de Mallorca in 1968. The manwas able to trace his ancestry to the 16th century, tothe time of a peasants’ uprising against Ivan theTerrible. Korchnoi comments, “A person who can tracehis family back for many centuries is to be envied. Such a manstands firmly on the earth. [...] In our times, when wars alter-nate with social upheavals, few can boast of an extensivegenealogical past. I am especially unfortunate. I did not evenknow my grandfathers.” Korchnoi uses this story to intro-duce what he knows of his family background, butthere is more to it than this. As the narrative unfolds,one sees the extent to which Korchnoi has to fight forwhatever he achieves. He was not a child prodigy, andfor many years he had to contend with the machina-tions of fellow Soviet grandmasters who were muchmore in tune with the powerful political machinewhich directed their lives. Korchnoi’s description ofhis family background establishes him as a lone figure,struggling to survive and prosper, and as a result hisachievements appear all the more extraordinary.The 2005 edition of Chess is my Life includes eightannotated games, study of which will doubtless proveinstructive. Far more inspiring, however, is the chanceto spend a few hours reading the words of the mosttenacious, energetic and youthful Grand Old Man ofchess there has ever been and, I suspect, ever will be.

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If you can read this book and NOT feel just a scintil-la of new determination to succeed when next you sitat a chess board, there may well be no hope for you.Part 2: Annotated GamesFor the second Chess Moves in a row, this column is dan-gerously close to topicality. Admittedly, Part 1 featured

an autobiography that is atbest six years old (and in itsearlier edition, nearly 35years old!), but Part 2 nowconsiders a games collec-tion which is hot off thepress: Viktor Korchnoi’sMy Best Games (EditionOlms).This is an updated andrevised edition in one vol-ume of two previous Olms

collections, Volume 1: Games with White and Volume 2:Games with Black (both published in 2001). Each vol-ume contained 50 games, selected and annotated byKorchnoi, from the period 1951 to 2000. The newcombined edition adds 10 new games, including sever-al from the last decade.With literally thousands of games to choose from, itcomes as no surprise that this is a tremendously enter-taining collection. Even restricting himself to gameswhich he won left Korchnoi with over two thousandfrom which to choose! Korchnoi makes clear in hisForeword that the selection was based on a wish forvariety. As a result, the games are well spread acrosshis entire career and include a considerable diversity ofopponents and openings. That the selection shouldalso have been based on the quality and fighting natureof the chess was almost inevitable, given the nature ofthe man who played the games. Having explained hiscriteria, Korchnoi adds, “And one more thing. Chess is mylife, and these games are fragments of this life. And, naturally,I wanted to accompany each such fragment with a conversationwith chess enthusiasts. If during the course of a game I foundthere was nothing to the readers, I rejected it, however good thegame!”If you are anything like me, these words will have beenlike a neon sign above the book, saying “Buy me! Buyme!” Annotated games collections are a favourite typeof chess book for me, but even I must admit that someof them can be dry. When an author signals so clear-ly that he wants to go beyond the moves and showsomething of the personality behind them, this is

always good news.Korchnoi does not disappoint. Each game is fully, butnot exhaustively, analysed, at an average of four pagesper game. This is detailed enough to be of interest toplayers of many levels but not so detailed as to deterthe average player with forests of variations. His notesfeature verbal explanations of what is going on in theposition and what the plans are for both sides as wellas illustrative variations where necessary. Korchnoi’spersonality does indeed shine through, e.g. in the trans-parent delight he takes from showing that he can beatgrandmasters much younger than himself and in hiswillingness to acknowledge his own errors as well asthose of his opponent. There is a very real sense ofthe games being viewed through the prism of 50-60years’ experience, which imbues the notes with a wis-dom and authority few authors could match. Any clubplayer who studies this book is certain to benefit.By way of illustration, here is a sample of some of thenotes (in italics) to the game Korchnoi – Hübner,Johannesburg 1981. Let’s pick up the story after theopening moves:1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bf4 Be7?! (Iwould characterise this move as a display of nihilism, typical ofHübner's mentality in general!) 6.Qc2 Nh5 7.Bd2 d58.cxd5 exd5 9.g3 0–0 10.Bg2 Nf6

XABCDEFGHY8rsn-wq-trk+(7zplzp-vlpzpp'6-zp-+-sn-+&5+-+p+-+-%4-+-zP-+-+$3+-sN-+NzP-#2PzPQvLPzPLzP"1tR-+-mK-+R!xabcdefghy11.0–0

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This type of position occurs quite often in modern play.Omniscient theory asserts that White has the advantage. Hisplan is clear – pressure on the queenside. The black c-pawn willalways be a target for attack - whether it stands at c7, c6 or c5.Sometimes, both in this last case, when ...c7-c5 has been played,or as in the present game, Black has problems with the defenceof his d5 pawn. For a long time he is deprived of counterplay.In order to create an offensive on the kingside, he has to weakenthe pawns in front of his king, which, with the centre half-open,may (and often does!) have unfortunate consequences.Despite all that has been said, I have to admit that this type ofposition does not attract me either for White, or for Black. Thisis a dry, meticulous form of chess. The diverse forms of the chessstruggle are replaced here by pressure on the c- and d-files. Suchplay demands of White neither imagination, nor the ability totake risks. However, a top-class grandmaster should, in principle, be able toplay any type of position. And equally strongly. Let us see howI cope with this... 11...Re8?! In this position some grandmasters would have played 11...c5,not worrying about the creation of hanging pawns - after all,they are not only a weakness, but also in some cases a source ofdangerous counterplay! Others might have played 11...Nbd7.But Hübner delays both one, and the other. Well-known, forexample, is the plan with the manoeuvre ...Nb8-a6-c7(c5)-e6.There is no denying that freedom to manoeuvre determines theadvantage of one of the sides in a chess game, just as freedom ofmovement determines the superiority of the democratic systemover the totalitarian... But did not Hübner overestimate thevirtues of his position? Did he really have such a free choice? 12.Ne5 This is now one of several possible moves. In the event of12...c5 13 dxc5 bxc5 14 Qb3 Qb6 15 Nc4! Black has seri-ous difficulties over the defence of his d5 pawn, while if12...Bd6, then 13 Nc4 is again unpleasant. And after theplanned 12...Nbd7 there would have followed 13 Qa4 with thethreats of Nc6 and Nxd7. After the forced 13...Nxe5 14dxe5 Ne4 15 Nxe4 dxe4 16 Rfd1 White has a significantpositional advantage in view of his superior mobilisation and theweakness of the e4 pawn.12...a6 13.Qb3 Nbd7 14.Rad1?! In his note to White's 11th move, the commentator explainedeverything correctly - the rooks should stand at c1 and d1. Buthe himself places the wrong rook at d1! This mistake will costWhite an important tempo...

14...b5 15.Nxd5?! Nxd5 16.Ba5 N7f6 17.e4 Rc8!18.Rc1 Nxe4? (This move loses quickly. 18...Bd6 was cor-rect.) 19.Bxe4 g6

XABCDEFGHY8-+rwqr+k+(7+lzp-vlp+p'6p+-+-+p+&5vLp+nsN-+-%4-+-zPL+-+$3+Q+-+-zP-#2PzP-+-zP-zP"1+-tR-+RmK-!xabcdefghy20.Rc6! (Finally destroying Black's defences on the lightsquares!) 20...Nf6 21.Nxf7 Qxd4 22.Ng5+ Kh823.Bc3 (After the queen moves, both 24 Rxf6 and 24 Qf7 aredecisive.) 1–0Korchnoi’s My Best Games is a delight from start to fin-ish. Highly recommended.

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The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit by Christopher ScheererPublished by Everyman Chess £16.99This is one of the great gambit openings loved by ama-teurs but shunned by top players. I remember as a jun-ior at my local club several enthusiasts playing theopening and being rewardedwith spectacular looking vic-tories. I was so impressed thatI tried it in blitz numeroustimes and even wrote a bookon the subject in the 1990s.The opening can arise fromvarious move-orders but theusual ones are 1 d4 d5 2 e4dxe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 exf3 5Nxf3 or 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3e4 fxe4 4 f3 exf3 5 Nxf3 andif you are really cheeky 1 e4d5 and now 2 d4. The author admits he is new to theopening but with the benefit of computer analysis isable to revive some lines and destroy others. The basictruth is that you give up a pawn for a bit of play butthe real reward is the chance to win an amazing gamefeaturing an all out attack. I hasten to add that if youwant to improve your level of play then stick to theQueen’s Gambit but if you want fun on the board thenthis gambit is for you. I should mention that if you justwant a celebration of spectacular games then look outfor Englishman Alan Dommett‘s Emil Josef Diemer1908-1990 – A Life Devoted to Chess. This hardbackpublication is published by the Book Guild in Englandalthough curiously not mentioned in Scheerer’s bibli-ography. Even so Scheerer deserves a gold medal formanaging to track down enough games to fill 335pages but as it an opening largely played by amateurshe is often struggling for decent games at internation-al level. There are numerous Internet games where youhave no idea the strength of the players such as onpage 150 with an example played between BDG_Girlagainst WhiteKnight. I also noticed that on page148/9 an analysis against the BDG by James Rizzitanois knocked down by an improvement in the main illus-trative game between M.Ly-A.Short, Adelaide 2004.Just by chance I witnessed that game so I realise it wasbetween players rated 1646 and a 1482. Still, I have afondness for the BDG where the pawn deficit willmean you lose a few games but occasionally will winlike a superstar.The best book available on the Blackmar-DiemerGambit.

Sicilian Attacks by Yuri Yakovich Published by New in Chess £16.99This is a collection of games where the opening is theSicilian and the play tends to be brilliant. It is not arepertoire book so openingenthusiasts can forget the ideathat it is Beat the Sicilian 4 but aneffort is made by the author topoint out typical attacks, sacri-fices and general ideas. The 32games are well annotated with anice mix of prose and analysis.There is enough supporting vari-ations to make it appealing to thestrong club player and the games are brilliant enoughto appeal to those who just want to appreciate goodchess.An insight into attacking chess.Slay the Spanish by Timothy Taylor Published by Everyman £16.99The American author wants Black to take on theSpanish (or Ruy Lopez as I like to call it) with lines thatare a little bit different. The answer to the main lineSpanish is apparently the Modern Steinitz (1 e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 and now 4…d6) which wouldadmittedly confuse a lot of club players who are usedto the usual Chigorin or Marshall. I like Taylor’s chattyapproach and at one point he almost convinces me totake up his recommended opening. He also takes time

out to find a way to fight theSpanish Exchange (1 e4 e5 2Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6)which he generally thinks canlead to a hard fight in an ending.He suggests after 4…dxc6 5 0-0to play 5…Bg4. I tried this inthe last round of the BritishChampionship 2009 againstDavid Howell when the gamecontinued 6 h3 h5 7 d3 Qf6 and

now 8 Be3 which Taylor suggests is a good way ofWhite obtaining an easy draw. I suspect White mighttry to win which is why sometimes the analysis fromthe Black point of view is rather optimistic. This isespecially true when he encourages readers to take onthe Spanish Exchange by taking back the bishop with4…bxc6, which I think is rather hopeful, but does thejob of making White think in the opening.A more than useful repertoire for the club player.

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Book Reviews from Gary Lane

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BATSFORDChess CompetitionWell done to the March / AprilBatsford competition winner --

R Mitchinson of York!The correct answer was - 1.Ke3Here’s the next problem ...R L Wynne - The Problemist, 1937

White to play and mate in 2 ...Please send your answer (just the first move is suf-ficient) on a postcard to the ECF Office, TheWatch Oak, Chain Lane, Battle, East Sussex TN330YDThe first correct entry drawn on 10th July 2011will win a Batsford voucher for any book on theircurrent list! Good luck

LAKE DISTRICT CHESS HOLIDAYSA relaxed, informal 5-night holiday at this well-known Country House hotel, including a 7-round Swiss competition and tutorials on chesstactics. Suitable for the inexperienced as well aslocal club playersRothay Manor, AmblesideTel: 015394 33605E-mail: hotel@rothaymanor.co.ukwww.rothaymanor.co.uk/chess

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LEGEND –# British Championships qualifying tournament@ FIDE rated* ECF Grand Prix~ ECF graded event

All congresses graded by the ECF are part of the official Grand Prix~ 13-15 MayRhyl Congress 2011, Town Hall, Wellington Road, Rhyl Contact: Stuart Hamilton Tel: 01745 350367 Organiser'saddress: 20 Victoria Avenue, Rhyl, Denbighshire LL18 1ER~ 14 May Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay, Chipping Sodbury Town Hall, Broad St., Chipping Sodbury BS37 6AD Contact:Graham Mill-Wilson Email: tugmw@blueyonder.co.uk 3 Sections - Open, Major (U165), Minor (U130) - 6 rounds,25 mins on the clock per round Organiser's address: 8 Lyndale Road, Yate, Bristol BS37 4DD~ 14 May Golders Green Rapidplay, Golders Green Parish Church Hall, West Heath Drive, Golders Green, LondonNW11 7QG Contact: Adam Raoof Website: http://goldersgreenchess.blogspot.com/~ 15 May National Girls' Championships Southern Qualifier, Ashdown House School, Forest Row, East Sussex RH155JY Contact: Sabrina Chevannes Email: sabrinachevannes@hotmail.co.uk - Southern qualifier for the NationalGirls' Chess Championships. There are four qualifiers and one final. The final is on Saturday 2nd July 2011Website: http://www.chevanneschessacademy.com/WC_nationalgirlschesschampionships.html15 MayJunior Chess Championships, Bootham Junior School, Rawcliffe Lane, York YO30 6NP Contact: PeterCloudsdale Email: cloudsdale_c@hotmail.co.uk Tel: 01904 767177 | Includes training from 2pm | For schoolages 4-10 from the York area# 20-22 May Sheffield Chess Congress, Firth Park Community Arts College Contact: Paul Bailey Email:congress2011@sheffieldanddistrictchess.org.uk Website: http://www.sheffieldanddistrictchess.org.uk/con-gress2011 The winner of the Open qualifies for the 2011 British Championship21 May Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft Junior Chess Congress, Herman Primary School, Oriel Avenue, Gorleston,Norfolk NR31 7JL Contact: Arthur Sparkes Email: arthursparkes@madasafish.com Open to all Juniors (notrestricted to Norfolk residents) of 16 years or under~ 21 MayChampions' League Infants Event, 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 3BA Contact: ScottFreeman Email: chess@ccfworld.com Tel: 020 8645 0302 Fax: 020 8645 0412 Website:http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/~ 21 May Sussex Junior Worthing Rapidplay, Thomas A Becket Middle School, Glebeside Avenue, Worthing, WestSussex BN14 7PR Contact: Paula Payne Email: entrymanager@sussexjuniorchess.org - 6 rounds rapidplay in 4sections; U11 Minor & Major, U18 Minor & Major. Open to all aged under 18 on 31st August 2010 | Entry form- http://www.sussexjuniorchess.org/Forms/GP6WorthingMay.pdf~* 22 May Richmond Rapidplay 95, The White House, The Avenue, Hampton, TW12 3RN Contact: James ColemanWebsite: http://www.surreyrapidchess.org Email: rapidplay@aol.com23 May Victoria Gardens Blitz Chess Club 10 Minute Tournament, Victoria Hotel, 28 George Street, Leeds (behindTown hall) Contact: Tony Ibbitson or Eric Davies Tel: 07875553775 or 07736069393 Email: tony@leedschess-

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Tournament Calendar

club.org24 May Greater London Chess Club Evening Blitz, Greater London Chess Club, St Georges Bloomsbury, 6-7 LittleRussell St, London WC1A 2HR Contact: Nigel Blades Email: nigelblades@blueyonder.co.uk - Single section Swisstournament, starting 6.45pm, finishing by 10pm. Number of rounds dependent on entry - Entry form:http://www.glcc.org.uk/GLCCEveningBlitz_24May.pdf Website: http://www.glcc.org.uk/@~#* 27-30 May e2e4 Sunningdale Congress, De Veres Sunningdale Hotel, Sunningdale Park, Larch Avenue, Ascot, BerkshireSL5 0QE Contact: Sean Hewitt Email: info@e2e4.org.uk Website:http://www.e2e4.org.uk/sunningdale/May2011/index.htm - Three Sections: FIDE Rated Open; FIDE RatedMajor (Under 2000 / 170 ECF); Minor (Under 140) | Entry form -http://www.e2e4.org.uk/sunningdale/May2011/Sunningdale2011.pdf*~ 28 May Poplar Rapid-Play Tournament, Langley Hall, Saint Nicholas’ Church Centre, Aberfeldy Street, Poplar, LondonE14 0QD Contact: Norman Went Email: docklandschess@yahoo.co.uk Website: www.spanglefish.com/dockland-schessclub~ 28-30 May 44th Cotswold Chess Congress, St. Edward's School, Cheltenham Contact: Mike Powis Email:mike.powis@which.net~*# 28-30 May Essex Chess Association Congress, Abbs Cross School, Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch,Essex RM12 4YBContact: David Brock Email: davidbrock@trustgroup.me Website: http://www.spanglefish.com/essexchess-congress Swiss Tournament of 6 Rounds of Chess (2 on each day) with an Open, Major and Minor Sections29 MayLetchworth and Hitchin Rapidplay Chess Congress, St Francis' College, Broadway, Letchworth Garden City,Herts SG6 3PJ Contact: David Heath Website: www.letchworthchess.com E-mail: letchworth.congress@letch-worthchess.com~ 30 MayCCF Junior County Championships & CCF Exchange Chess Club, 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon,Surrey CR5 3BA Contact: Scott Freeman Email: chess@ccfworld.com Tel: 020 8645 0302 Fax: 020 8645 0412Website: http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/*~ 4-5 Jun 2011 EACU Chess Congress, Turner Hall, Church Lane, Newmarket CB8 0HL Contact: Richard FreemanEmail: richard@fcasolutions.co.uk Tel: 01908 234014 - Five-round Swiss tournament with three sections: Open;U170; U130~ 5 Jun National Girls' Championships Northern Qualifier, Alwoodley Community Centre, The Avenue, Alwoodley,Leeds LS17 1QN Contact: Sabrina Chevannes Email: sabrinachevannes@hotmail.co.uk - Northern qualifier forthe National Girls' Chess Championships. There are four qualifiers and one final. The final is on Saturday 2ndJuly Website: http://www.chevanneschessacademy.com/WC_nationalgirlschesschampionships.html8-13 Jun 20th ICSC European Deaf Club Team Championship, Merseyside Society for Deaf Peopl